Water Sport
by Youko-Akira
Summary: As part of a four day long reunion, Gon, Kurapika, Killua, and Leorio go to a water park. Too bad Kurapika doesn't want to swim... So Leorio comes up with a plan to get the kuruta wet. No pairings, and no warnings unless you count rampant humor as one.


Water Sport

By Youko Akira

Friday, July 29, 11:33 am. The sun was shining, the sky was clear, and the temperature was warm. Hot actually, but nothot enough to cause any discomfort. Either way, the thought of a nice, cold pool and an ice cream cone was a welcome one. That was how Kurapika found himself where he was, sitting in a beach chair watching Leorio, Gon, and Killua splash around in a wave pool. Well, the splashing was more centered around Killua and Gon, Leorio being on the receiving end of their water walls. Today's temperature being what it was, and the week's trend of temperatures getting higher each day, Gon had suggested that the four should head to a water park as part of their four-day long reunion. And that was what they did. So far, though, Kurapika had done nothing more than sit on the sidelines and watch his friends enjoy themselves, and had not actually been on any of the rides himself. Most of the ones that they had visited so far were water slides or fast-paced inner tube courses, and it didn't look like that was going to be changed anytime soon. After the wave pool, Gon had mapped out all the places he wanted to visit next. Killua agreed with most of them, and Leorio didn't care much. And, as with all the previous ones, Kurapika planned to sit them all out. That was the plan, at least.

"Kurapika!"

The kuruta looked up from the book he was reading and glanced over to his left, where Gon was lacing through the rows of beach chairs; totally oblivious to any people he might be getting wet. He stuffed the book into his bag, knowing it wouldn't stay dry long if it was out in the open. He waved to he child charging towards him, hoping that Gon remembered to stop before he ran someone over. Thankfully, he reached Kurapika without any injuries.

"Kurapika! You haven't put that dumb book down all day! Why won't you swim with us?" Gon pouted, looking disappointed that Kurapika wasn't enjoying this day to its potential.

The kuruta handed the boy a towel, smiling. "You'd better dry off before you drip any water on our things," he suggested, avoiding the topic of his present state of dryness.

"Yeah! Dry off before you get all his poor books soaked!" someone yelled. Gon turned around and was tackled onto the concrete ground by Killua. Leorio followed shortly after, grabbing another towel from their pile and started to dry his hair.

"Seriously, though," Killua continued, letting Gon up from the ground. "Why won't you swim? It's not like you get to come here every day. Just sitting around is BORING!" Gon took advantage of his friend's temporary distraction and jumped atop him, paying Killua back for a few moments ago. That started a tussle between the two. They rolled about the concrete, knocking over a few chairs in the process and scaring away fellow park-goers. Kurapika sweat dropped, feeling a tad embarrassed by their antics. All of a sudden, something wet dropped over his head. It was Leorio's towel, which was now thoroughly soaked. The taller man smiled down at Kurapika.

"They have a point you know," he began. "Of all the days to wimp out, you chose this one. I mean, it's not like you can't swim…" Leorio paused for a moment. "Wait… you can swim, right?" Come to think of it, he had never once seen the kuruta in the water. That one time during the hunter exam when they had to treasure dive, Kurapika only had to walk aboard a half-submerged ship.

"I can swim perfectly well, thank you," the blond replied curtly.

"Yeah, but you're putting those brand new swim trunks to waste!" Leorio argued, gesturing to the sky blue shorts Kurapika wore.

"I didn't ASK you to buy them. Actually, I was more forced into it," the other shot back, thinking back to the day before when the four of them had gone out and bought new swimwear. Leorio had chosen a forest green pair. Gon opted for orange with a green dragon on the left side. Killua bought yellow with navy blue hibiscus flowers. Kurapika wasn't going to get any, having a perfectly good pair already, but some people insisted.

"PLEASE come swimming with us!" Killua and Gon whined simultaneously, stopping their tussle and separating. It was then that Gon spotted a nearby ice cream stand, and looked back to Killua.

"Hey, wanna get something to eat?" he asked. It was getting close to lunchtime, and both boys were getting a little hungry.

"Sure!" Killua piped, popping up from where he sat excitedly. "How much you wanna bet I can beat you there?."

"How much you wanna bet you can't?" Gon replied, eagerly accepting the challenge. The two boys then ran off, with out so much as a "so long!" to Leorio or Kurapika.

"Get some real food before you fill up on ice cream!" the kuruta yelled after them, but was almost certainly ignored. Sometimes (most of the time, actually) he felt like a mother when he was around those two. They would almost certainly get into more mischief than hey could handle with out him, and Leorio wouldn't do anything about it. Leorio was like the dad, who liked to let up on the rules and let the kids have fun. But Kurapika was having trouble deciding whether he was like that, or more like the baby of the group. He sure acted that way sometimes.

"You aren't going to keep them from swimming for 45 minutes after they eat, are you?" Leorio asked. "That would be over doing it."

"What do you take me for?" Kurapika inquired. "Everyone knows that is just a load of trash. Even if it wasn't, this is a water park. What would be the point?" He remembered his mom telling him that when they visited the ocean. What a disappointment it had been to him then!

"Just making sure," Leorio explained. "Now then, let's address our main problem- your lack of wetness in a place where you are surrounded by water."

"Leorio! I told you I don't want to go swimming!" Kurapika protested, refusing to look his friend in the eye.

"But you don't go swimming on a slide!" the older man countered, a look of triumph on his face. He grabbed Kurapika by the arm and dragged him away from the chair. The blond fought back, but when it came to sheer strength there was no doubt who had the upper hand.

"What about our things?"

"Who would want to steal a bunch of towels and a book? Killua and Gon have the money, so I'd say we're safe."

At this point Kurapika had two options- 1. He could struggle with Leorio and undoubtedly earn countless stares from other park goers, or 2. He could take the subtler route and follow his fried obediently. Considering the crowd, option two looked very appealing. He could have exerted some harmless defiance, but that would be childish. So the kuruta allowed Leorio to lead him to whichever watery deathtrap he had in mind.

The two passed a green slide that had many loops and turns, and was much taller than any of the other slides. It reached far above any of the gift shop roofs as well. Kurapika gave a mental cry of relief when they did not stop at it, though he did notice Leorio considering it as they passed. Another one that looked rather dangerous was a long, thin, blue one that you slid down on your back. At the end it launched you from about three feet in the air into a pool. There was also one that required an inner tube, and involved riding down what looked like a lightly sloped waterfall. It looked a bit tamer than some others.

"We're here!" Leorio announced. Kurapika looked around. There were actually three slides, two of which were long tubes. One was black and the other tan. "Wait here," Leorio continued. "I'll get the tube."

Kurapika did wait. So it was a tube slide… well at least now there was SOME chance he would stay dry. The blond glanced at one of the signs. On the top it said "Cobra " and on the bottom "Boa." Neither one sounded safe. Well, the second sounded better than the first, but not by much. Suddenly, a hand clasped onto the kuruta's shoulder. He turned his head and saw that Leorio had returned, and was holding a lime green inner tube by one of its handles. It was a double, meaning that there were spots for two people to sit.

"What now?" Kurapika asked. It was really a silly question, but it needed to be asked.

"We climb," Leorio answered. "We have to walk up some stairs to get to the top.

_Stairs equal tall slides. Tall slides equal fast drops. Fast drops result in getting soaked. _It was a simple computation really, and Kurapika assessed it in moments. Already he was regretting his decision to go along with what his taller friend said. Said friend led the blond to a wooden structure that was the stairs to the top of the slide. They began to climb. Each step was lined with some sort of rigid material, and each ridge dug uncomfortably into Kurapika's heels. Another regret- he'd left his sandals back with the towels. There wasn't really that big of a line. This could mean one of two things. 1. The ride was unpopular, or 2. It was so fast that the lines dwindled easily. Kurapika didn't even want to go into the reasons for number one, and number two was just scary. Either way, it didn't take long to reach the top. This slide was the black tube. A park attendant stood by the opening, and told Leorio to set their tube down on the water once it was their turn. Leorio sat in the back of the tube and Kurapika was in the front, nestled safely (or not no safely) between the other man's legs. Kurapika closed his eyes, and could feel the attendant push them into the blackness.

…

Killua stopped eating his pizza and glanced towards the Cobra, a slide he and Gon went on earlier.

"Didja hear that scream?" he asked, taking a sip of his soda.

"Yeah," Gon told him, setting down his cheeseburger. "Kinda sounded like Kurapika."

The two looked at each other.

"Nah! Couldn't be!"

…

Later on, all four boys met up near the park's arcade. They were sitting at a picnic table, and Kurapika sipped a banana smoothie. He looked VERY irritated. Leorio sat next to him, also looking upset. Killua and Gon sat across from them. Gon lapped at his chocolate ice cream cone. Both younger boys stared at the older ones.

"Um, Leorio," Gon began. "How'dya get that black eye? It looks like it hurts!"

"I can only guess…" Killua added, glancing incredulously at Kurapika.

Leorio sighed. "Courtesy of one blond little spoilsport," he replied curtly. He glared at Kurapika, and began to speak again. "You didn't HAVE to punch me, you know."

Kurapika didn't look at him. "You didn't tell me that they dumped water on you at the end of the slide. Or in the middle, either. And you neglected to mention the speed, too. " He continued drinking his smoothie. Killua and Gon just stared, and then burst out laughing.

End

_Hey everyone! This is my first HxH fic, so please be gentle! I based the water park after a real one. My favorite slide is the tall green one I mentioned, next to the one Leorio forced Kurapika on. I would like to thank Allusho for correcting all my errorsin her review, so I could fix all the things I screwed up on. I really can't believe some of the stupid things I missed!_


End file.
